I always tell people
that I never went any one full year in any one school. They look at me in
amazement. The following will explain why. I am not upset about all of this
moving. I think it made me a stronger person. I was never afraid to go anywhere,
meet anyone, or take on any challenge in life. So thanks Mom and Dad! The
following tells of all of the places we have lived, and if you knew us...Hello!

Sojourning
of Hoyt and Rachel Mullins

Married May 31st, 1958

#1.

Moved in with Olvia and Orphia Mullins at Skeetrock, Hoyt’s parents until
Labor Day.

#2.

Moved to Jimmy South’s little house on the hill going toward Skeetrock.
$15.00 a month for rent. Rachel was pregnant with Kathy.

#
3.

Hoyt got a job in Springfield, Virginia, near Manassas on a welding job
with Kenny and Jackie Mullins. Rachel went to stay with Papaw Olvia and
Mamaw Orpha. She also stayed some with Mamaw Ferbie and Papaw Oakley. Kathy
was born in Abingdon, Virginia. Hoyt caught a train to Abingdon from Springfield
and arrived at Abingdon just hours before Kathy was born. He went back to
Springfield after Rachel and Kathy was discharged. Rachel and Kathy went
to Olvia and Orpha’s to stay. Hoyt lost his job at Springfield due to a
labor strike, and came back home to Skeetrock. He drew unemployment and
worked in the hayfields for money.

#4.

Hoyt and Rachel and Kathy moved to Upperville where Hoyt worked on the horse
farms doing general repairs.

#5.

Hoyt and Rachel and Kathy moved to Front Royale, Virginia, where Hoyt worked
on the same horse farms doing general repairs. He lost his job, and Olvia
sent a cattle truck to move him and Rachel home. The cattle truck broke
down, and Olvia sent a coal truck to move them back home. The coal truck
hauled their belongings as well as the cattle truck back home to Skeetrock,
Virginia. Rachel was pregnant with Jay at that time.

#6.

Hoyt obtained work with Layton Musick, his brother-in-law, in Point Pleasant,
WVA. He was working as a groundman for R.H. Bouligny. Since Rachel was pregnant
with Jay she stayed with Olvia and Orpha until Jay was born at Doc Sutherlands
in Clintwood, Virginia. After Jay’s birth and on the day that John Fitzgerald
Kennedy was elected President of the United States, Rachel, Kathy and Jay,
moved to Point Pleasant, WVA, to be with Hoyt. Rachel says that she remembers
that Hoyt did not vote for JFK because he was a Catholic. They had a three
room apartment above Frutch Barbershop on Main Street. Rachel soon became
pregnant with Mark and was almost ready to have him, when Hoyt was hired
on another job with the same company in Charleston, WVA. Once again Rachel,
Kathy and Jay stayed with Olvia and Orpha until after Mark was born. Mark
was born in Abingdon. He was an Rh baby, and needed to be transfused twice.
After Rachel and Mark’s recovery, they, along with Kathy and Jay joined
Hoyt.

#7.

Hoyt had found a place to live on Washington Street, in Charleston WVA.

#8.

Hoyt and the family moved yet again to be closer to work to St. Albens,
WVA, a place called Coal River. They had great next door neighbors; the
Mckawee’s. They had older children, boys...and they loved to play pranks
on Kathy, Jay and Mark. Kathy woke up one night, crying that there was a
panda bear in her window. Those windows had shades, the pull down kind,
and to this day she still says she saw a panda bear in her window. Every
time she would call out for her mom or dad, the panda bear would disappear,
and would come back as soon as they went to bed. She says it was those Mckawee
boys playing a trick on her. After Kathy, Jay and Mark were supposed to
be in bed asleep, Hoyt and Rachel would often go over and sit with Mr. And
Mrs. Mckawee on their porch. It just so happened that Jay had to go to the
bathroom or “potty” as he stated it. Kathy helped him go, but he needed
a bit of cleaning up, and Kathy wasn’t about to do the deed. She walked
him over to the Mckawee’s and told her Mom and Dad that Jay needed his “butt”
wiped. That didn’t go over very well. Hoyt would often take Rachel and the
children to Cross Lanes, to her sister Irene’s house to spend the day while
he was at work. The children loved to visit their Aunt Irene. Kathy loved
her cousin Pam’s room. She had all of the Walt Disney soundtracks and she
was content to sit and listen to them most of the day. Her Aunt Irene taught
her to sew, and saved all of her scrap material for her Barbie doll clothes.
She would make patterns for Kathy to use, and Kathy would go home and sew
on the old fashioned treadle sewing machine. What fun! Kathy almost drowned
while they lived there too. A small island was in the middle of Coal River,
and the Mckawee’s had a boat that they would use to get to the island. They
invited Rachel and the children over to the island for a picnic one sunny
afternoon. One of them, not knowing that Kathy couldn’t swim, threw her
overboard close to shore. Kathy promptly sank to the bottom. Mr. Mckawee
saved her. Kathy says she can still remember skimming along the bottom of
the river, along with the current. I suppose the children were really a
handful. Jay overdosed on “Jaynepayne’s Pin Worm Pills” that he found on
top of the refrigerator. He thought they were candy. He had to be hospitalized
for that overdose and have his stomach pumped. He hadn’t been home a week
when Kathy pulled a concrete mantle place over on top of her and compound
fractured her leg. She was in the hospital in traction for quite a while.
She broke her leg in mid December and still remembers being in the hospital
at Christmas. Santa came along and gave her a Bobsy Twins book. She was
so disappointed because she couldn’t read. She was four years old at the
time. She came home in a full body cast.

#9.

Kathy came home to a new house. Hoyt and Rachel moved yet again to Cross
Lanes, WVA, in a house that her sister, Irene had lived in. Irene had simply
moved to the house directly behind, so they were close. It was a huge two
story white house. Kathy was still in her cast, so she slept in a twin bed
in the living room. After having her cast removed, Kathy became very dependent
on her crutches. She wouldn’t walk without them. Hoyt had had about enough
of that, since the doctors had told him that there was no reason that Kathy
couldn’t walk without crutches. So he decided to fix that little problem.
He carried Kathy to the middle of the floor, and took her crutches away.
She had to walk. It took most of the day, but finally Kathy gathered her
courage, after she saw that crying and pleading were to no avail, and she
walked. She was so happy when she discovered that her leg had really healed
and it wouldn’t break into. You have to remember that she was just four
years old. By that time, Roger Gray, Rachel’s brother, had joined the R.
H. Boulingy, as a worker in the Wytheville office. He often stayed overnight
with Hoyt and Rachel when they lived at Cross Lanes. Hoyt had started to
“climb” poles and had begun his training as a journeyman lineman. With those
advanced training skills, came more advanced job opportunities.

#10.

Hoyt was hired to work in Pike County, Kentucky. They moved to Elk Garden,
just below Millard, KY. The trailer was small and on the riverbank. Jay
was rambunctious as a child, and jumped from one bunk bed to another and
sprained his arm and shoulder. There was also a flood that occurred during
that time and almost got the trailer where they lived. One of Hoyt’s uncles,
Chalmer Senter, father of James Parker Senter, died while we lived there.
His aunt Evelean decided to move out of that house, which was located just
above Olvia and Orpha’s house at Skeetrock at the top of the hill, and above
Chalmer’s or J.P.’s Pond.

#11.

So, in order for the family to move back “home” and the kids to have more
freedom and room to play, Hoyt moved the family back to Evelean’s house,
while continuing to drive back and forth to Kentucky to work. The children
can remember walking to Olvia and Orpha’s house to watch “The Virginian”
when it came on, as they did not have a television. In the wintertime, it
was such great fun for all to sled down that hill, children and adults alike.
Kathy got the mumps while living there. Rachel became pregnant with Anna
Marie while living there. Once again, Hoyt’s job brought about another move.

#
12

Hoyt’s next job was in Charleston, WVA. They found a place in Nitro, WVA,
Easter Road. Rachel and Hoyt joined the church and was baptized when they
lived here. They were baptized together in February 1966 at the WYCA in
Charleston, WVA by Pastor Roy Holliday. Kathy started school at Nitro Elementary.
Anna was born in 1966. Kathy, Jay and Mark had the chicken pox when Anna
was born. She was born with them too. She had one on her face, one on her
hand and one on her butt. While Rachel was in the hospital, Kathy, Jay and
Mark stayed with Billie and Connie, who lived at Tyler Mountain. Kathy remembers
having to take the public transportation bus with Coy to go to school. What
an adventure! At a later visit to Connie and Billie’s Rachel got the scare
of a lifetime. She had sent Kathy to the car, which was across the road
from Connie and Billie’s house. About the time that Kathy would have crossed
the road, Jay had snooped under the house and had found a mouse trap...the
hard way. He let out a yell that would shake the foundations of the house.
Rachel hearing Jay yell, just knew that Kathy had been hit by a car, while
crossing the road. She fainted dead away. But everything turned out ok.
Jay’s hand was alright, and Kathy was just concerned about why her mother
was on the floor and everyone was standing around her. While living at Easter
Road, Kathy became choked while taking a bath. She liked to rub soap on
her washcloth and blow bubbles through it. In mid-blow she sneezed and sucked
the soap bubbles down her throat. She couldn’t breathe! She was pounding
on the bathroom door, which was locked, and Uncle Layton, who just happened
to be at the house at the time, broke in the door, jerked Kathy up, out
on the front porch, naked to the world, and pounded on her back, loosened
the bubbles enough for Kathy to get her breath. I guess Layton saved her
life that day. Kathy and Jay also liked to venture out into the pasture
next to their house. There were horses, and bulls in that pasture...and
it just so happened that they didn’t like visitors in their field. They
had to run for their lives! ( Or it seemed that way to them!) While the
family lived at Easter Road, Woodrum Stanley and Dorcie Stanley died. Woodrum’s
funeral was the first one the children had ever attended. It was certainly
the first dead person Kathy had ever seen. There was a place on Woodrum’s
nose, and she asked why it was there. She remembers someone telling her
that Woodrum had fallen out of the bed when he died, and his nose laid on
one of the nail heads in the plank flooring of his room, leaving an imprint.
Dorcie died soon after and her funeral was at their house too. They lived
on the first house as you turn up Yates Holler on Caney Ridge. The house
belonged to Grayson Yates, it had green asbestos shingles and it was the
best place in the world for a young girl to visit. There were all kinds
of pretty things, glassware and pictures. They were always so glad to see
you when you visited. After Woodrum died, Dorice and Edith gave Kathy a
framed 8 X 10 picture of Rachel as a young girl, and her hair was in “pig
tails.” They acted like it was a real treasure, and it really was. What
a special gift, from such special ladies.

#
13

From Easter Road, Hoyt and Rachel moved to Kenna, WVA, because of Hoyt’s
work and he wanted to live on a farm where he could have a garden and raise
chickens. The house was owned by one of Hoyt’s co-worker’s parents, Jim
Barnett. What nice people they were. They loved the children. In the yard
there was a huge willow tree that Kathy loved to spend the whole day under,
playing with her barbie dolls, and her pet guinea. There was an also upstairs
attic, with a crawl space. Jay and Mark loved to terrorize Kathy and Anna
late at night. There were all kinds of endless opportunities and imaginary
scenarios with that crawlspace. The family took their first trip to Jeckyll
Island, Georgia while living here. Rachel took canned food to eat, and the
family would have breakfast on the beach, eating cereal, along with sand
as a condiment. That was the best cereal one could eat though. What fun
they had! Peter Reed, a friend of Olvia and Orpha’s from Kentucky was there
at Jeckyll Island too. He took the family out to breakfast on their last
day and that was the first time they could remember eating corned beef hash,
which is a family favorite to this day. The family stayed at the Wanderer
Motel while on the island. They thought they were in paradise. Jay started
to school that year, and Kathy was in the first grade. Jay hated school
and Kathy loved it. We raised fry chickens, and a garden. Jim Barnett was
a friend of Hoyt’s. He had cancer in his later years of life, but was tragically
killed after retirement by a tree limb that had fallen on him. The family
became friends with a family that attended church with them, The Fulks,
who also had 2 girls and one boy. Kathy stayed with them often, and during
one summer stay, finally overcame her fear of the water and learned to swim.
The family was returning home one evening and their road was flooded out,
and had to go spend the night with them. Mr. Fulks made cornmeal pancakes.
That was a new one for all. But they were great! The Fulks lived in Parkersburg,
WVA.

#14

Hoyt’s job once again took them on another adventure. This time to Hunts
Hill at Goldtown, WVA, which wasn’t very far away from Kenna. It was a farm,
and the family could raise chickens, milk cows, raise honey bees, Hoyt tried
his hand at making homebrew, which while fermenting would keep the family
up at night, hearing the bottles pop! Rachel let Kathy stay up one night
and watch her first Elvis Presley movie, Blue Hawaii. Kathy was in love.
Eddie and Molina Adkins, another family that became frequent visitors had
children, a daughter and a son. Curly Spencer, a blind man from Charleston
would often visit as well. He brought Kathy a bicycle that his daughter
had outgrown It was the bicycle that Kathy had owned. There was this grand
gravel and sand pile, that the kids would play in for hours at a time. They
would build whole towns and use matchbox cars for vehicles on those gravel
streets. It was great fun for the children to play in the rain. There were
great big water cans under each of the down spouts of the house, and while
it rained they would stick their heads under the pouring water. (Much more
fun than a swimming pool) Anna loved to play in mud puddles, even though
she was a baby. Her nickname was “puddle panties.” Kathy had a habit of
sleepwalking, and her mother caught her outside one night in the pump house
getting ready to use the bathroom. The children still attended school at
Kenna. Doris June married Jack Steele while the family lived on Hunt’s Hill.
Bernard, Rachel’s brother came home from Korea and Connie Ray gave Rachel
back her money for property of Mamaw and Papaw that Layton had bought, and
Connie purchased from Layton. Hoyt drove a blue/green station wagon then.
The family had an ongoing argument, still to this day actually, as to whether
it was really blue or really green. The children had quite a walk to the
school bus. It was almost a mile. It wasn’t so bad during the nice weather,
but when it rained or snowed, or bitterly cold, it was miserable. Several
times Kathy and Jay would slide off the mountain, only to see the bus pulling
out without them, or it never came at all. The family once again made friends
with another family from church, The Dorsey’s, who lived at Chesapeake,
WVA. They had an available 3 bedroom garage apartment, so guess what?# 15The
family moved to Chesapeake. The Dorsey’s had several children, and were
as good as gold. We often had dinner together, the children played together,
and we all got bicycles for the first time. Hoyt bought the family’s first
record player and television, and the children were allowed to watch Gilligan’s
Island and I Love Lucy. Hoyt also traded that blue/green station wagon in
for a green, definitely green, Chevrolet slant 6 van. The motor was on the
inside, between the driver and front passenger seat. Anna had her front
teeth knocked out on that motor. She happened to unbuckle her seat belt
at the wrong time. Jay and Kathy were caught shoplifting at a local store,
but were duped by one of the neighborhood children. He told them that his
dad owned the store, and they could have anything they wanted. They believed
it! They just knew they were gonna be killed. Somehow, Hoyt and Rachel didn’t
find that fact out until years later. Hoyt ordered the parts for his desk,
that is still in the family to this day. It was unfurnished, and in parts,
but he put it together, and stained it and it’s a family heirloom. Kathy
and Jay went to Chesapeake Elementary to school. They would walk home for
lunch, to fresh made bread and soup. The heavenly smells from Mom’s kitchen!
It was in that school system that the children had to take their school
shots all at one time, or they couldn’t attend. Somehow, they had avoided
getting their school shots until that time. The family would also go visit
another family, The Bucks’ who happened to have a huge farm, and the whole
family would go help pick strawberries. The family also went to the Ohio
State Fair with them one year. Kathy had a crush on Terry. He was a cutie,
but way too old for her.

#16

From Chesapeake the family moved to Elkview, WVA. The children went to school
at a place called Pinch/Quick. Once again there was space to raise a garden,
there was a nice barn, and across the creek was a nice patch of woods with
a pipeline that you could cross and scare yourself to death if you fell.
There was a tire swing, and young kids at the house all the time. Every
Friday night Rachel would make homemade pizza and salad and peas. To this
day that meal is a family favorite. While living there Jay and Mark decided
their caps, for their cap pistols, weren’t working very well. They decided
that gunpowder would make them pop much more loudly. It did. Mark lost his
eyelashes and eyebrows, and was lucky that was all he lost. Jay got into
a big patch of poison ivy and was really, really bad off with it. He would
lay under a wet sheet and was all swollen. Kathy was in the 6th grade. Jay
was in the 5th. Mark was in the 3rd. There were some boys what lived up
the holler past them, and they would terrorize Kathy to death. She became
fed up, and threw rocks at them, and got into trouble with Mom and Dad because
she actually hit one of them, bless their hearts. Rachel had also made a
pet out of a snowy owl...and the boys killed it. Kathy learned to play the
guitar while living here, Dad dropped kicked a cat off of the porch, and
Anna took gymnastics with friends. Hoyt would also catch black snakes, long
black snakes, and put them in the barn to catch mice. It was a great place
to live. Everyone loved it. Hoyt and Rachel were involved in youth ministry
so every weekend there was a houseful.

#
17

Hoyt’s job ended and he was transferred to London, Kentucky. No one in the
family wanted to move, but they did. After settling in, the family came
to love it. Hoyt got the family the first house that was empty in the area
in Lily, Kentucky. Kathy and Jay and Mark went to Lily Elementary School.
Kathy loved it because there were lots and lots and lots of boys. There
was a trailer park behind the house, and footballs games were an every evening
occurrence. The London/Lexington Kentucky church was very active and the
family settled in. The need for a larger home once again moved Hoyt and
Rachel to move into the city of London.

#18

There was this huge split level house on main street in London Kentucky
beside the Western Auto. The family each had their own bedroom, and there
was a basement for activities and friends. The children walked to London
Elementary School. Rachel had to whip Anna and make her go to school, she
sure didn’t want to! Kathy was in love with several different guys at one
time, and she and Hoyt were involved in a country square dance band. Kathy
played the tambourine and sang, Hoyt played the washboard, spoons, and guitar
and sang. They played at Cincinnati Music Hall, Renfro Valley at Mount Vernon
and at the Brockman’s most every weekend. Kathy played a Hee-Haw honey to
Junior’s BR549. It was great fun, until Hoyt’s job once again ran out forcing
the family to move yet again.

#
19

Hoyt got a job in Norton, Virginia, so the family moved back to Skeetrock,
Virginia, to the home place, and lived in a small house behind Olvia and
Orpha’s house. Kathy, Jay and Mark and Anna went to Clintwood High School.
Kathy was in the 10th grade, but was taking 11th grade classes. Kathy became
sick with an unknown illness for about six weeks. The doctors thought she
might have TB, but there was no definitive diagnosis. Hindsight would tell
her that this was probably the beginning of her Multiple Sclerosis. Aunt
Irene became sick with cancer, and came home from the hospital with really
no hope of recovery. Kathy got her driver’s license while in Virginia at
this time after taking driver’s education class with Mr. Bill Deel.

#
20

Hoyt was hired by Arlie Hays in Pike County, Kentucky and they moved yet
again to “Coon” (Raccoon) Creek, Kentucky. Kathy attended part of her 11th
grade at Johns Creek High School. She was taking all senior classes, but
the school board would not approve her graduation, so she quit and took
the GED. She went to work at Long John Silver’s in Pikeville. After that
she worked a little while at Western Sizzlin Steak House, then got a job
at Stratton Lumber Company, learned to frame pictures, and was a typesetter
for the Appalachian Express. Jay quit school, and went to work too. He set-up
trailers for a friend’s Dad. He also got a job at Western Sizzlin Steak
House, and then was in a very serious car accident. He and Mark and 2 of
their friends were in the car which went over a steep embankment. The boys
were all lucky to be alive. Jay was transferred to UK Hospital Intensive
Care Hospital where he stayed for over two weeks. It was a miracle that
he lived. Mark had a small bone broken in his throat, and a ton of stitches.
The other boys were the same. Kathy bought her first car, a brown Dodge
Dart, that she drove back and forth to work. Hoyt worked for Haliburton
on the Pikeville Cut-Through Project welding teeth back onto the loaders
at night. He also took pictures at Marlow’s part time for extra money. Aunt
Irene died soon after we moved to Coon Creek. Bob and Gail Hunt were wonderful
friends of the family. Gail kept Kathy and Anna in clothes and shoes for
years. Kathy would babysit for Brady and help clean. I was baptized while
living at Coon Creek by Mr. George Pinckney. There were seven baptized that
day, in a horse trough in the family outbuilding. What a day that was. Hoyt
was once again called back to work by R. H. Bouligny. This job was at Wheelwright,
Kentucky. Papaw Olvia died unexpectedly while the family lived at Coon Creek.
He died of a massive coronary, on the way to the hospital at Wise, Virginia.

#
21

Hoyt and Rachel, Jay, Anna and Mark moved to Pound, Virginia under the hill
on the river, next to the Fire Department. Kathy stayed in Pikeville in
an apartment on College Hill, working at the newspaper.

#
22

From Pound, Hoyt and Rachel moved to the 4-Way Apartment in Clintwood, Virginia.
Anna attended Clintwood High School. Kathy went to live in Nashville, Tennessee
where her fiancé lived. Jay and Hoyt went to work for Frank Clay.
Jay fell off the back of a pick-up truck and crushed his elbow and arm.

#23

From Pound, Hoyt and Rachel, Anna and Jay and Mark moved to “The Newberry
Place” around the mountain in Clintwood, Virginia. Rachel had pet turkeys,
and they were able to raise a garden. Hoyt worked odd jobs. Kathy visited
from Nashville, and the family had a reunion. Jay was drawing compensation
for his arm.

#24

From there the family moved to Kemper, Kentucky. Hoyt worked for Berwin
Company, for Bob Hunt. He also did some stone work for Bob’s house he was
building. Jay worked some for Berwin as well. Jay started tech training
for his phone communication job in Lexington, Kentucky. Mark was taking
Mining Technology at Morehead State University. Anna was attending High
School at Clintwood, and Kathy was working for the Nashville Symphony in
Nashville Tennessee. Kathy’s marriage didn’t work out, however, and she
returned home for a short period of time, got a job at a local spa, teaching
aerobics, and then to Kmart as a bookkeeper. She lived in Pikeville with
a girlfriend who was also from Clintwood, and then on her own close to her
work at Kmart. Kathy met Thomas Dingus, from Martin, in Floyd County and
began to date him.

#25

Opal, Rachel’s Aunt needed some help since her husband was ill, and she
asked Hoyt and Rachel to move in with them, and she would “give” them their
place. That didn’t last too long. Jay left for California for one of his
telecommunications jobs.

#26

Bill Elkins had a double wide trailer on Brushy Ridge, just off Caney Ridge.
Rachel and Hoyt moved there. Kathy moved back home to help Rachel after
an illness. That trailer caught on fire 3 different times, but never did
that much damage while they lived there. One particular time, when the house
caught on fire under the floor, smoke was seen in the corner coming from
behind a book shelf. Hoyt crawled under the house and called for some water.
Kathy and Anna jumped to fill a five gallon bucket, and ran around and around
the house looking for the opening for under the house. They eventually found
it and the fire was put out. They decided then and there that their future
careers were not in fire rescue. However, several years after they left,
it did eventually burn down. Kathy married Thomas Dingus and move to Martin,
Kentucky. Hoyt made a cradle for the baby that was expected while they lived
there. Hoyt Wesley was born and was able to spend his second night of life
in that cradle. The cradle is a family heirloom now. All of the grandchildren
have slept in it. Hopefully the great-grandchildren will too. Kathy and
Tom lived at first with his parents, Winnie and Clyde, and then moved into
an apartment where they were living when Hoyt Wesley was born. Kathy became
pregnant again, and they moved just down the hall into apartment #2. Mamaw
Ferbie had surgery on her carotids while Rachel and Hoyt lived there. Papaw
Oakley died during the coldest winter in years.

#27

Hoyt and Rachel left Caney Ridge and moved to Benham Road in Bristol, Virginia.
Hoyt worked for Pike. Anna and Mark worked for Bojangles and then Anna got
a job with a chiropractor. Anna bought her first car from Hal Salmon. Uncle
Richard died unexpectedly.

# 28

From there Hoyt and Rachel moved to Industrial Park. Hoyt took great pictures
of Hoyt Wesley with an ice cream cone down by the creek when they lived
there. Hoyt had an old red car that he loved, but none of the rest of the
family did. Ariel was born while Hoyt and Rachel lived here. Kathy and Tom
moved from Apartment # 2 to a trailer up in the holler from Tom’s Mom and
Dad. Just after a trip to Pennsacola in the fall, Hoyt got a call to come
to Florida to work.

#
29

Hoyt went to West Palm Beach and got an apartment, and Rachel followed with
Jay and Anna. Anna was engaged to Rick Stillwell. Kathy and Tom visited
and took Hoyt Wesley and Ariel to Walt Disney World. Hoyt was cooking on
a tin plate on the stove when Kathy and Tom arrived. They beat Rachel, Jay
and Anna there, but were able to help unload and get Hoyt and Rachel settled
in.

#
30

Hoyt was laid off and they moved back to Greenbriar in Bristol, Virginia.
This is where Anna was married. She and her husband Rick moved to Asheville,
NC. When Hoyt and Rachel moved back from West Palm Beach there was a huge
snow storm in April. Hoyt worked at his sister’s house, laying stonework
that’s still beautiful to this day. Hoyt bought a green Volvo from the owner
of the house. Kathy, Tom and the children visited often.

#31

Lynn Garrett, a friend from Kingsport, had a farm, and Hoyt and Rachel left
Greenbriar and moved to Abingdon “on the farm”. Hoyt wasn’t working steady,
just odd jobs and helping Lynn around the farm for rent. They raised a huge
garden that year. Bushels and bushels of green beans. Hoyt built a canoe,
and Mark was married while they lived here.

#32
Hoyt got a job in Paintsville, Kentucky, so he and Rachel lived with Kathy
and Tom during the week, and came back to the farm on the weekends. Kelsy
was born during this time period. A little premie, but what a gal! Anna
was severely ill with toxemia and Kelsy and Anna’s lives were a miracle.

#33

Once again Hoyt got the “South” fever and got a job with Florida Power and
Light. He moved to Fort Lauderdale, to begin work and to save money for
a house.

#34

Rachel stayed with Kathy and Tom until Hoyt had established a home for them.

#35

Rachel moved everything to Fort Lauderdale. They lived there 3 and ½
years. I think this was the happiest time in Hoyt and Rachel’s life. Jay
got married during this time. Kathy and Tom moved in with Hoyt and Rachel
in 1990 after a dispute with his family, and stayed with them for about
a year. Kathy worked at the Florida Medical Center, and Tom never found
a job, so they moved back to Hueysville, Kentucky in 1991. Rachel was Hoyt
Wesley’s home school teacher during his time in Florida and he excelled.
Holden was born after Kathy and Tom returned to Hueysville in 1993. Florida
Power and Light Downsized, and Hoyt was low man on the totem pole, so to
speak, and he was once again laid off. This was very hurtful to him, and
I don’t think he ever got over it. Hoyt did some stonework for a time and
then they had to return home.

#36

They moved to Pound, to the brick house beside the Texaco. Hoyt looked for
work, and applied for a job at Union Power in St. Louis, Missouri. He was
hired.

#37

Hoyt moved to St. Louis and worked for about 6 weeks before Rachel could
join him. Kathy, Rachel and Holden left Kentucky for St. Louis in the biggest
U-Haul truck that was made. What a trip that was. They drove right to the
house that Hoyt had rented and got settled in. Dad became ill in September
and was diagnosed with cancer, a brain tumor. He could no longer, drive
or work. The family moved them back home.

#38

Home was back to Pound, to the same house they were living in when Hoyt
left to go to St. Louis. He died in that house. He made one final move,
to the Sluss Cemetery on Mullins Ridge, up on the hill behind the Pound
River Church. Rachel couldn’t stay in that house.

#
39

Rachel moved for a short time to what we call “the round house” in Pound.
A wonderful stone house, that was big enough for the whole family, and it
was a good thing, because we all needed each other. The family had Thanksgiving
that year, both sides of the family, at that house. I don’t think we have
all been together in the same way since.

#
40

Rachel found a little farm house on Caney Ridge that was close to “home”
or where she grew up. She purchased it, and lives there now. Kathy and her
husband Tom, Hoyt Wesley, Ariel Dawn and Holden all live there too. Anna,
Jay and Mark visit often.

So far....that’s the end of the moving. Except....Ariel will be attending
Virginia Intermont College, in Bristol, Virginia this fall...and Hoyt Wesley
wants to go into Youth Ministry and ...well who knows?